A clear snap resounded.
Neo looked at Morrigan’s broken leg with wide eyes.
Her injuries must’ve been bad if the bone broke with a slight pull.
“You…!”
She bit her lips.
Just when Neo thought he won, his stomach burned.
The feeling was the same as a hot knife, stabbed into his injury, being twisted.
He looked down.
Faint lightning sparks slithered around his injury.
‘This damned woman! She used Lightning Seed’s energy when she stabbed me!’
Morrigan’s divine energy, rampaging inside his body, wouldn’t disperse unlike normal situations.
She could kill him if the situation continued.
Neo grunted.
He wrung his blood dry to use Divine Energy.
He touched her with Necrotic Touch.
Morrigan, within his hold, could not dodge.
She let out a subdued scream when the Death Mark appeared on her leg.
At the same time, she used her divine energy to mess up Neo’s inside.
She glared at him.
“Stop if you don’t want to die…”
“You first…”
Neo increased the intensity of Necrotic Touch.
The two did not back down.
To break the stalemate, Neo used the Darkness.
The shadows on the ground quivered.
That was all.
Neo, after losing too much blood, had only a bit of Divine Energy left, and he used it for Necrotic Touch.
The appearance of Darkness element surprised Morrigan.
She let the control of her Divine Energy slip.
Neo used the chance to increase the Necrotic Touch’s intensity to maximum.
He waited for her to retaliate.
But.
Nothing happened.
Morrigan was knocked out.
Neo let go of the hold and sprawled on the ground.
He stared at the sky.
“Hahaha, this is crazy.”
Neo won.
Against the strongest Demigod of his generation.
He defeated Morrigan.
He basked in the glory of victory until the reality slammed him down.
His injuries hurt and he lost too much blood.
“I can cauterize the wound with Necrotic Touch, but…”
He was in no condition to fight.
If someone found him, they wouldn’t hesitate to take him out.
After all, Neo painted a target on his back when he chose the rank 1 token.
“I need to hide until I recover to a better state.”
He pushed his lead-like limbs and staggered to his feet.
The injury on his stomach was not lethal, or maybe it was, and he couldn’t think straight due to anemia.
Neo was about to leave when his eyes wandered to Morrigan.
She was alive.
Anyone who found her would rescue her to curry favor with Zeus Clan.
But there was no guarantee it would happen.
It was possible for her to die of blood loss because no one found her.
He covered his face, trying to think if he should do it or not.
“…Dammit.”
He was fucked if she died.
The Morrigan Family would come after him.
Not to mention, he would lose a powerful future ally.
“Hey, wake up.”
Neo hit her cheeks.
There was no response.
With no other choice, he carried her on his back.
“Fuck, she is heavy.”
Blood trickled from the corner of his lips.
His eyes were bloodshot and his ears rang.
Wasn’t carrying a girl supposed to make him feel something positive?
Why did he feel like shit?
Neo did not know for how long he kept walking.
It was night when he found a cave after he followed the cliff’s base for hours.
He entered the cave.
The tunnel was long and there was no sign of a monster living in it.
Neo placed Morrigan inside before he left.
He retraced his steps and removed the tracks, brought some fruits, and took a few bushes to hide the cave’s entrance.
Morrigan was awake when he returned.
He tossed her the apple and ate the other one.
“There is no need to fight. Both of us are out of Divine Energy and we lack blood to recover it anytime soon.
“I know you must’ve a breathing technique.
“But don’t forget your leg is broken. There is no way you can fight anymore.”
She glared at him and used Physical Reinforcement Spell.
Her muscles tightened.
They crushed the broken bones and sent jolts of pain across her leg.
She cancelled the Spell and coughed blood.
Her body went into seizure since she forcefully used Divine Energy.
Neo waited for her to recover a bit.
“Eat.”
He gave her the apple she dropped.
“You can’t recover if you don’t eat.”
Morrigan’s gaze alternated between his face and the apples.
Tears welled in her eyes.
She took the apple and nibble on it silently.
Neo was left frozen from shock.
He couldn’t believe the scene before his eyes.
Morrigan, the future War Empress, cried?
Her sobs grew louder.
“Uh, are you okay?”
“Shut up! I… h-hic!… don’t want to talk to you! Hic!”
She nibbled on the apple while her tears stained the ground.
“I was the stupid one. Hic! Hic! I t-tried to save him and what did I get in return? Hic! He…
He almost killed me,” she mumbled.
“What do mean—”
“I’ll make your stomach explode if you try to talk to me again!”
She glared at him with red puffy eyes.
Neo could feel the lingering energy from her lightning seed inside him.
…She wasn’t joking.
He decided to shut up.
Morrigan continued to cry.
She turned to him after she ate the apple.
“….”
Her gaze was locked at the uneaten apple in his hand.
“…You can have it.”
She ate the apple with small bites.
“You are stupid,” she said after a long time.
Morrigan stopped crying.
Her eyes were swollen.
“Are you going to talk now?” He asked.
“No.” She stared at him. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
That was their last conversation of the day.
Morrigan entered meditation to recover her Divine Energy.
“What did she mean she was helping me?”
He had an idea to what it was.
“Maybe…”
***
Bonus Chapter Goals (For September):
Every 300 Power Stones = +2 Bonus Chapters
Every 100 Golden Tickets = +3 Bonus Chapters